Dockstader Island Bridge: Order to remove road, not bridge structure

The clock is ticking on a federal order to remove a road that was used to build a bridge to Dockstader Island in Bigfork.

Washington developer Roger Sortino was given a 60-day order by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in September to remove a gravel road that was built this summer to construct a more than 500-foot bridge from his property on the north shore of Flathead Lake to his private island. Sortino and his daughter, Jolene Dugan, were granted a permit from Flathead County in 2012 to build the bridge out their island. A lawsuit against the Flathead County commissioners contends that the bridge permit was issued in violation of the Montana Lakeshore Protection Act. The lawsuit from the Community Association for North Shore Conservation alleges that the commissioners did not put the bridge permit out for proper public review. David Hadden, spokesman for the conservation group, said he is waiting for a response from the Army Corps about when the road is to be removed. He said he’s called them three times, but has not received a response.

Hadden wants to clarify to the community that the bridge is not being ordered to be removed; only the road. “There has been some confusion in the community about the Corps’ order,” Hadden said. “The order doesn’t affect the bridge or the original issue of getting the bridge removed.”

He said he hopes the Corps backs up their paperwork with action. Hadden said the Corps took no action when the county issued a stop-work order in March over violations of the lakeshore construction permit.

A court date for a non-jury trial has been set for May 2016 in the lawsuit. Until then, Hadden said, the conservation organization “needs to do some serious fundraising” to pay for attorneys’ fees. Hadden said if the group’s case is lost or won, it will likely be taken to the Montana Supreme Court. “We have to prepare for that eventuality,” Hadden said.

This is the first time that the Montana Lakeshore Protection Act has been challenged, Hadden said. He said the goal of the lawsuit is to have the bridge removed and the north shore area where it was built restored to its original condition.